Evolution of Internet in China (1990s-2000s) and Staying Ahead of the Competition with Fritz Demopoulos, Co-founder of Qunar.com

Our guest for today, Fritz Demopoulos is the Founder of Queen's Road Capital. He has been an entrepreneur and investor within the media and internet industries for over 15 years. He co-founded Qunar.com, China’s largest travel internet company; and Shawei.com, China’s largest sports internet company. Fritz also had senior positions at Netease and The News Corporation. As an expat witnessing the exponential growth of China since the late 1990s, he brings a very unique and interesting perspective of internet in  China and the determinants of success for early internet founders.

Episode Notes:

02:30 Introduction to Fritz Demopoulos

03:05 Internet in China in 1997

05:15 How Fritz decided to come to China

05:44 What stood out in the Chinese business environment

07:33 The Dotcom Bubble and its Impact on China

09:12 The Major Driver of Business Growth in China

12:13 The Evolution of Early Internet Businesses in China

13:42 Appetite for Monetization

17:00 Value Addition over Monetization

18:41 User Interface in early 2000s

21:36 The First Generation of Chinese Internet Founders

24:35 Fritz's leap into entrepreneurship

26:48 Differentiating a Business and Standing Out of the Crowd

31:03 Raising Capital as a Foreigner in China

32:58 Inflection Point for China Internet that Changed Everything

35:11 China's Role in Global Tech

39:04 What keeps Fritz busy now

40:00 Fritz's Investment Thesis and Areas of Investment Interest

41:30 How to contact Demopoulos

41:55 Advice to Everyone

Many thanks to our guest; host Oscar Ramos; producers Eva Shi and Sagar Chaudhary; editor David; organizer Chinaccelerator; and sponsor People Squared. Be sure to check out our website www.chinaccelerator.com

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